We grumble and complain when things are hard.
We don't like the heat (and it's hot here in Oklahoma in the summer!). We don't like drought. We don't like the freezing temperatures. We don't like "all the rain". We don't like the extremes and want life to be even-keel all the time.
It's in the extremes that we realize that there is good to the opposite!
I remember a year when we had EXTREME drought. I decided during that time that I would NEVER complain about rain EVER AGAIN! And I remember that every time it rains.
When we have a lot of rain and the grass is growing fast and it needs to be mowed more often....I remember the drought and the dead grass. And I'm thankful for the rain. Even when it comes, and comes, and comes. I am thankful - because I remember when it didn't rain for a VERY LONG TIME!
Was there a time when you didn't have much money and were just scraping by?
Our college days and early adult years are often full of examples of learning how to live and be responsible for ourselves and that often meant lack.
Whenever we have been through a time or place of lack, we often become very grateful for the time when we have what we were lacking. Life will not be easy. And if you learn to understand and appreciate that life flows, we will be happier and more grateful.
How many times has someone quoted "this, too, shall pass" in the middle of a discouraging time? It's a reminder that things will change, given time, and change of choices and circumstances. Sometimes we can make decisions that will directly affect a situation. And sometimes...it isn't possible.
Many things are going on in this country right now, and in the last few years we have had some losses of rights and privileges. We have lost a lot lately, and I don't think that we understood the value of what we had - until we lost them. And now we are realizing that we DO need to be paying attention and that we CAN make a difference by our choices.
We have taken many things for granted - because it's "always been that way". And now with changes that we never dreamed possible, we are realizing more and more that we need to take a stand. Don't readily believe that all changes are really for "your good".
As we have swung to the place of losing our freedoms, we are fully aware now that they were good things. And we want them back. It is in the loss of something that we appreciate what we had.
Drought - Rain.
Snow - Sun.
Parent's home - your starting out apartment.
Parents pay the bills - you pay your own bills.
Freedoms - lack of freedoms.
We can learn from opposites/extremes, and we don't always have to experience them in order to learn. That's wisdom speaking - to learn from past experiences and to apply to new experiences. That's how opposites teach us to be thankful - appreciate them and the lessons we learn from them.
Always be mindful of your part, the Lord's part, and the consequences of doing nothing. And always pray.
Romans 12:12 "Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation; be constant in prayer."